


Cat Naps & Cuddles

by songofthe52hertzwhale



Category: Dalton Academy Series
Genre: Gen, Stuart Trio Snuggles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-20
Updated: 2018-06-20
Packaged: 2019-05-26 05:28:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14993795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/songofthe52hertzwhale/pseuds/songofthe52hertzwhale
Summary: The Stuart Trio has a lot of shit to deal with, but nothing that can't be solved by snuggles.





	Cat Naps & Cuddles

By the time Julian Larson finally agrees to return to Dalton, he’s recovered from the brunt of his Hell Night-induced injuries. His scars have mostly healed, thanks in part to a team of highly skilled plastic surgeons, the only obvious physical remnant a faint, silvery scar across his throat. His physical therapy progress has been absolutely phenomenal; he still has the occasional stumble, but for the most part manages to be wholly self-sufficient.

It’s a little disorienting, honestly. Logan and Derek had done _research_ , had been fully prepared to deal with any possible side effects or lingering medical issues. But Julian seems fine, for the most part, despite his firm insistence that they not discuss _that night_ in front of him.

Derek’s the first to notice the nightmares.

It’s all because of a damned English essay, one Derek had fully completed before having a sudden realization that his thesis was _shit._ It’s well after midnight, and he’s only halfway through his re-work, stops for a quick coffee break. He’s just on his way back from the kitchens, a large mug of black coffee in his hands, when he hears it — a faint whimpering noise, coming from Julian’s room. He hesitates outside the door, briefly considers the idea that Julian may not be _alone_ in there. But then there’s another, louder whimper, a sobbed “ _no!_ ”, and Derek bursts through.

Julian’s tangled in his own sheets, still asleep even as he cries out. His skin is covered in a thin sheen of sweat, his hands grasping at his blankets. Derek rushes to his side, shoves his coffee on the nightstand — spilling half of it in the process — and kneels beside the bed.

“Jules,” he says, firmly, “Julian it’s a dream, alright? Wake up for me.”

His breath is still coming in harsh pants, his whole body trembling as he cries.

“ _Julian!”_ Derek lays a hand on his shoulder and shakes.

Julian jolts awake, sitting straight up and gasping.

“Hey,” Derek says, reaching for him, “You’re okay, Jules. You’re okay.”

He slides onto the bed beside his friend, wraps an arm around him and rubs comforting circles against his shoulders. Julian’s still breathing hard, brings his hands to his face and blinks back tears. Derek knows how hard this kind of thing is for him, knows how much Julian hates showing anything he considers a weakness. He knows Julian will close off if Derek tries to pry into how he feels, so he tries a different tactic.

“Logan slept in my room a lot, while you were gone,” Derek says, “He was having nightmares, too. I had a few. Not as bad as his, usually. But we both sleep with our doors unlocked now, just in case. You know you’re welcome to come in any time.”

“I’m fine,” Julian wipes his eyes, “Really. I’m sorry I woke you up.”

“You didn’t. English essay. I’ll probably be working on it all night.”

“…I could help. If you want. I finished mine Tuesday.”

“No. You should get some rest. I’ll manage.”

“I can’t,” Julian admits, “After…when I wake up from them. I can’t sleep, after.”

He looks so _small_ , so small and young and _scared_ , and Derek feels a twist of pain in his chest. He squeezes Julian’s shoulders, smiles down at him.

“Well I’d love some help,” he says, “Maybe with the two of us working on it I can manage a couple hours of sleep. My laptop’s on my desk, if you wanna look over what I have so far? I can go get us some coffee.”

Julian nods, hauls himself out of bed and trudges across the hall. Derek grabs his half-empty mug, quickly mops up the coffee he’d spilt across Julian’s floor, and heads back down to the kitchen. He finds Julian’s favorite mug — a hedgehog shaped monstrosity Logan had found in New York — and fills it with coffee, topping it off with flavored syrups and a heaping spoonful of sugar.

By the time Derek makes it back upstairs, Julian’s already skimmed over his essay. He gives him a couple of notes, helps him come up with a few more examples to back up his new thesis. Derek finishes his re-write, reads a few lines aloud and lets Julian tell him what sounds good and what needs to be re-done. Eventually, and despite the absurd levels of caffeine and sugar in his system, Julian drifts off at the foot of Derek’s bed. Derek just lets him sleep, pauses his paper for a few moments to throw a blanket over his friend.

He finally finishes the essay around four in the morning, climbs over Julian and into his bed for a few blessed hours of sleep.

Logan is understandably worried, when he finds out.

“He could have told us!” He says when Derek tells him, “I would’ve…one of us could’ve stayed with him.”

“It’s _Julian_ ,” Derek shrugs, “You know he hates asking for help. Always has.”

“Still. You told him, right? That we’ve been leaving our doors unlocked?”

“I did. But I thought maybe…we should probably help him out, y’know? Just check up on him every so often.”

“Yeah,” Logan nods, still looking concerned, “Yeah, that’s a good idea.”

They work out a kind of system, after that. One of Logan’s Prefect duties involves doing room checks at curfew, and he takes to knocking on Julian’s door with a cup of chamomile tea and a gentle reminder that he and Derek are just right down the hall. When Derek stays up late working on homework, he’ll always walk past Julian’s door, pause for a moment and listen for the tell-tale signs of nightmares.

When a week goes by and Julian doesn’t come to them, they start to worry that Julian’s still holding all of this in, refusing to ask for help no matter how much he needs it.

But then Logan’s door creaks open late one night, making the blonde stir at the sudden beam of light shooting across his room. He cracks his eyes open, blinks up at the figure standing tentatively half-inside the room.

“Jules?” He croaks, raising his head off the pillow, “Nightmare?”

He sees Julian nod. Logan shifts in the bed, moving to one side and throwing back the covers.

“Come here,” he says, patting the mattress. Julian creeps forward, slides into the bed beside him and curls on his side, not quite touching Logan.

“You wanna talk about it?” Logan tries, already knowing the answer.

To his surprise, Julian takes a shaky breath and opens his mouth, “I watched you die.”

“Jules…” Logan reaches out, finds Julian’s hand beneath the blankets and squeezes, “I’m okay, see? I’m right here. We’re both okay.”

He feels Julian squeeze back, still looking a little shaken. Logan knows how he feels, has had his share of dreams where Julian didn’t make it out of the blaze. He knows there’s really nothing he can say to make him feel better, knows exactly how _real_ those dreams can feel.

“Alright, come on, I know you’re a little spoon,” Logan says, shuffling closer. He prods at Julian’s side, ignores the grumbles of complaint as Julian rolls over and tucks himself back against Logan’s chest, “See? Much more comfy.”

“It’d be more comfortable if your breath smelled better,” Julian mutters, but Logan just throws an arm around his waist.

“Shut up and let me sleep, alright?”

Julian doesn’t always come to Logan.

Sometimes, it’s Derek’s room he slips into in the dead of night, Derek’s blankets he crawls under until morning. There doesn’t seem to be any particular rhyme or reason as to why he picks the room he does, and Derek and Logan start shooting each other texts when Julian’s had another nightmare, just to keep the other updated.

“You know, neither of us have roommates,” Derek offers one day, “If you want to crash with one of us, we can make it happen.”

Julian seems to consider that for a minute, but ultimately shakes his head, “I don’t want to feel like I _need_ to rely on you guys all the time. You know for a few weeks I had to have people help me take a piss? My mom was _spoon-feeding_ me. It was awful, I couldn't do a damn thing by myself. So I know it’s not much, but having my own room kind of feels like I have my life back.”

“That makes sense,” Logan says, “But we’re still here if you need us. I was thinking we could do a movie night tonight, actually? You missed the last Marvel one.”

Derek grimaces, “I…kind of have a date tonight, actually.”

“Oh. Well that’s fine. Jules?”

“No dates for me,” Julian says, “Can we order Chinese?”

“Of course,” Logan smiles at him, throws an arm around his shoulders and pulls him to his room.

Derek sneaks back into the dorm just minutes before curfew, quietly makes his way upstairs and listens at Logan’s door. He can still hear the faint sound of movie dialogue, so he knocks softly, waits a beat for an answer. When he doesn’t get one, he pokes his head in a little timidly.

They’re both asleep, cuddled together in the middle of Logan’s bed. Julian’s head is resting on Logan’s chest, and both of Logan’s arms are curled around Julian’s waist. Derek smiles a little at the sight, briefly considers taking a picture of them.

“D?” Logan tilts his head up, just a little, “You just gonna stand there or are you gonna come here?”

He laughs a little, tosses his coat on Logan’s desk chair and kicks off his shoes before climbing into bed. It’s a little bit of a tight squeeze — he and Logan are both fairly large, and Julian has ridiculously long limbs — but they manage, especially when Julian yawns and stretches out mostly on top of them both. It should be awkward, but it’s mostly just _nice_. Logan moves his arm, takes the hand already linked with Julian’s and brushes against Derek’s fingers.

“You hafta hol’ hands,” Julian slurs sleepily, “’s snuggle rules.”

Derek just grins and takes their linked hands, “Happy now?”

Julian nods, hums a little, “Sleep now.”

He slips one leg in between Derek’s, still mostly cuddled up on Logan’s chest. Derek looks up at the blonde, smiles at the fond way he’s looking down at Julian. Logan glances up, cheeks reddening when he meets Derek’s eyes. He lays his head back on the pillow.

“Good night, Derek,” he says, a little too firmly.

Derek just smiles, “Goodnight, Lo. Jules.”

“Night, losers.”

 


End file.
